Thank you for your comment. I finished this story last year, and here I am a year later... You truly pointed out my sentiments, which I was trying to figure out. I questioned why I did not feel satisfied with the last four chapters, and why I tell myself those four chapters don't exist if I reread this story from the beginning lol.
I love that you said, "Loving regardless of age," because that was one of the greatest beauties of this story to me. :)) Mari and Hyuk don't quite understand what Junyoung sees in Sihoon, but I think that also demonstrates that love is personal and unexpected. I like how human Sihoon and Junyoung were portrayed here, since Junyoung followed his heart when he went forward with being with Sihoon despite thinking the latter was a married man and dating Mari. Sihoon was so reserved about dating, but he also didn't expect to fall in love. Yet, we also saw Junyoung's guilt and he broke up with Sihoon. And we saw that Sihoon tried to reconcile, after having his own reflection on his past relationship with Jiseok.
I agree that there was a heavy focus on sex. I think there could have been more communication. We saw that Sihoon wanted to spend more time with Junyoung, but Junyoung was busy working at the restaurant. Junyoung still didn't know what was wrong when Sihoon wanted Junyoung to just listen to the elder. I would have liked to see them resolve this issue, than have a four-year breakup that could have been avoided. I totally expected the characters to miss each other, because they really did have a passionate relationship. I think they could have had a long-distance relationship even. (And I'm still on the fence about Junyoung sleeping around and that unnamed boy who came to see Junyoung. Junyoung was still fully dressed in bed for one thing.)
Like you mentioned, this story reminded me of the feelings we can totally have. Love is not always easy to navigate, but we try and try to make it work. I would be totally open to seeing extra moments of Sihoon and Junyoung. We still don't know what happened to that vacation Sihoon wanted to go on with his mother, and he still hasn't told her he's gay. So, we don't know if she already got the hint about his sexuality and stopped the blind dates... Mari seemed to have matured throughout the four years, off-screened. I'm curious how her breakup with Seongjong affected her. If Mari dated again, I'm curious what those experiences were like.
Anyways, thanks again! I have a clearer view on how I feel about this story too :))
A really strong premise. Loving regardless of age. The author drew beautifully and she knows the core of her characters and story. However, she focused too much on sex and neglected the other parts of their relationship. She should have went hard on exploring the issues they were facing instead of dealing with it superficially. It would have been more beautiful if the characters got to navigate even further and deeper with their challenges. This could have been a real tear jerker. Still, it was a lovely story that reminded me of a lot of things. I would definitely want to see more from Ji Hye-Kyung.